As the school year progresses and midterms and finals descend, long hours studying and learning take their toll on students. But for stressed college

students in Florida, particularly those in traditionally underserved minority groups, access to health care may be as elusive as the sleep they miss studying for exams.

Why? Because Florida college students represent one of the largest groups of uninsured or lacking access to care in the state, with almost 16 percent of those 18-24 being uninsured and even more that are insured but unable to use that coverage on campus. That is why Rep. Anitere Flores and Sen. Steve Oelrich’s Student Access to Health Insurance Act (HB 885/SB 2256) should be strongly supported.

According to the American Medical Association, roughly 1/5 of students are uninsured. But this population is significantly expanded on campus. The

Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that colleges often refuse to accept a student’s private health insurance, putting them in the same situation

as the uninsured when at school. The result is that in states like Florida, college students rack up millions of dollars in uncompensated care costs annually. State healthcare reform must take into account these “shadow uninsured” to ensure the health of the student body and our future.

The Flores/Oelrich Student Access to Health Insurance Act addresses this key problem. Since two-thirds of students have access to health insurance coverage as dependents through their parents’ employer-sponsored plans, the Act permits

them to use their private coverage on campus and not pay again for a university’s redundant coverage. Indeed, because the GAO found that often these

college-sponsored plans are inferior – with benefits ceilings as low as $30,000 and significant coverage limitations – access to private insurance is essential

for substantive health coverage.

Further, some Florida school-sponsored plans do not spend adequate amounts on healthcare services for beneficiaries, including those that spend much less than half of the traditional 75-80 percent of the premium dollar.

Such concerns and potential conflicts of interest between schools and insurers have led New York

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to announce investigations into relationships that seem to benefit the school over the student.

The Student Access to Health Insurance Act would address these issues by requiring a standard benefits package to be offered by schools and a minimum of 75 percent of the student premium dollar spent on health services.

In addition, the Flores/Oelrich bill expands insurance options to the uninsured student. Schools can use increased funds obtained by billing insured student

private coverage to offer health insurance financial aid for uninsured students.

Increased funding through this process, which schools from Ohio University to Arizona State to Bowling Green have experienced, can also underwrite

infrastructural investments and service expansion and provide students with adequate health insurance to keep them healthy and able to learn effectively.

It also promotes positive, healthy behavior rather than high-risk activities such as self-treatment, avoiding clinic visits, and Internet purchase of medications without physician oversight.

There is a strong public policy in favor of providing the uninsured subsidized access to services. For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have all noted that discounts can be provided to uninsured and underinsured patients in programs to promote access to care, and nothing prohibits such efforts.

Finally, the Student Access to Health Insurance Act mandates that Florida colleges expressly include the cost of health insurance premiums for the uninsured student in the school’s cost of attendance. By doing so, health insurance will be considered part of a student’s financial need, allowing federal financial aid programs to cover the cost of health insurance as part of the student’s financial aid package.

A large fraction of the student body is one accident or illness away from losing their health, education and accompanying present and future opportunities. The combined approach adopted by the Flores/ Oelrich Student Access to Health Insurance Act will address the challenges of the shadow uninsured and allow these individuals to maximize their potential in the educational process.

By seeing to it that Florida colleges promote a healthy student body, we invest and secure our society’s future.

Bryan A. Liang is executive director of the Institute of Health Law Studies at California Western School of Law, co-director of the San Diego Center for

Patient Safety at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and author of the forthcoming report, “Crisis on Campus: Student Access to Health

Care.” He participated in drafting H.B. 885.